


Old Habits Die Hard

by Wheres_my_badger



Category: ONEUS (Band)
Genre: Dongju!centric, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, M/M, Overall really cute and soft, This is about FRIENDSHIP, Thumb-sucking, actually, and he always bites the other boys, barely, but like, but not really, he deserves is, it's about Xion lol, kinda in a '5 times plus 1' format, no romantic relationships, ok so, this fic is entirely his fault ok?, xion said he bites on his nails
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-11
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2020-12-07 22:28:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20983412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wheres_my_badger/pseuds/Wheres_my_badger
Summary: Dongju fell asleep wishing the heavens would listen to his wish for once. On the next morning he woke up with his thumb in his mouth. Over the course of the day, he caught himself sucking on his thumb three times. Not quite what he asked for, universe.(Dongju sucks on his thumb and he keeps coming up with excuses to explain why is it that he has his thumb in his mouth. The question is: do the others believe him?)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING PLEASE READ:
> 
> 1\. Hello ^.^  
2\. Although I've been keeping up with them I don't know Oneus well enough, so I'm sorry if this is too OOC :(  
3\. I literally wrote this on a whim. Not proofread, I just wrote it, kinda edited, and now I'm posting. 
> 
> Anyways, hope you like it!!!

Most kids that suck on their thumb have trouble stopping, because although it’s easy to control it while awake once they’re old enough to try, they tend to revert to the habit when they fall asleep, since they’re not conscious to stop it. It’s not an uncommon thing. And although it’s a bit disconcerting to suck on your thumb in your sleep well into your teenage years and sometimes even into adulthood… well, Dongju would give a lot to be like that. Because while he rarely wakes up with his thumb in his mouth, whenever he’s awake and focused on something or stressed, his thumb finds it’s way to his mouth without him noticing, and it’s embarrassing.

It had never been much of a problem, though. Sure, Dongmyeong sometimes teased him and his parents complained about it, but Dongju’s friends had never found out about it, because Dongju had learned early on to avoid spending too much time with them. Was it a good solution? No. But it was better than being teased for the rest of his life. So it had never caused him any major problems. Until, that is, he was accepted at RBW and moved into a dorm with a bunch of people whom he had just met.

The boys were nice. Youngjo was sweet and caring, Seoho was funny, Geonhak was playful, Keonhee was cute and Hwanwoong was just amazing. They were all very warm and welcoming, taking him in immediately even though Dongju joined much later. And suddenly, Dongju was always near someone. They were together 24/7; practiced together, ate together, lived together. And that meant they inevitably found things out about each other.

The first person to ever say anything was Seoho. Dongju was listening to the song they were supposed to learn by the next week when he noticed the older boy looking at him weirdly. He frowned and took off his earphones, pausing the song. Seoho bit on his lip.

“Why do you do that?”

He asked. To say Dongju was confused was an understatement.

“Do wh-” and then Dongju understood. He quickly took his thumb from his mouth, praying without hope that his cheeks didn’t expose his embarrassment. “I, uhn, my gums were hurting.”

He said. Seoho seemed a bit alarmed at that.

“Your gums? Did you hurt them somehow?”

Dongju internally cursed himself for the stupid excuse. On the outside he was the picture of calmness as he smiled at Seoho.

“Don’t worry, hyung, it’s nothing. I’m sure it’s just cause I was gritting my teeth.”

Not the best fix, and Seoho’s raised eyebrow showed that, but at least the older seemed to calm down a bit.

“Ok, then. Tell Youngjo hyung if it doesn’t pass, ok?”

Dongju gave him a smile and nodded. Seoho continued making his way to the kitchen, which probably was his initial destination. Dongju sighed in relief.

Dongju only noticed Seoho’s wording – ‘why do you do that?’ – much later, once he was in his bed at night, trying to fall asleep. That made him uneasy. Seoho hadn’t asked him why he had his thumb in his mouth at the moment, he had asked Dongju why he _often_ had his thumb in his mouth. Which meant he had noticed Dongju sucking on his thumb more than once, and that was embarrassing. And if Seoho had noticed, chances were the others had also noticed, and that was even more embarrassing. But he had given an acceptable excuse, right? Surely, Seoho had believed it… right?

Dongju sighed, rubbing his face against his pillow. Stupid habit. Why couldn’t he just be normal and suck his thumb on his sleep? Then it would be easier to hide. But no, of course the universe wouldn’t be that kind. Dongju fell asleep wishing the heavens would listen to his wish for once. On the next morning he woke up with his thumb in his mouth. Over the course of the day, he caught himself sucking on his thumb three times. Not quite what he asked for, universe.

Hwanwoong was the next member to say something about Dongju’s little habit. They were learning a new choreography, and Hwanwoong had been tasked with teaching it to Dongju step by step, because Dongju always needed a little bit of extra help to learn the steps. So it was only them at the practice room, the others getting to luxury of sleeping in since they only had to be there in the afternoon. Dongju didn’t mind. He liked Hwanwoong and the older boy was patient and sweet with him, so he really had no complaints.

It was still tiring, though, because no matter how sweet Hwanwoong was they were still exercising and spending a lot of energy. So when, after quite some time, Hwanwoong decided they deserved a break, Dongju let himself fall on the floor like a sack of potatoes. The older boy giggled at the action, throwing Dongju a water bottle.

“Thanks, hyung.”

Mumbled the younger, opening the bottle and drinking avidly from it. 

They stayed in comfortable silence for a while, and Dongju closed his eyes, relaxing and trying to rest for a bit. He didn’t know for how long he stayed like that until Hwanwoong spoke up, startling him out of his sleepy haze.

“You do that a lot.” Was what the boy said. Dongju blinked at him then felt his cheeks heating up. He pulled his thumb out of his mouth. “No, that’s not…!”

Dongju gave the older an awkward smile.

“I just get things stuck on my teeth all the time.”

He said. Hwanwoong’s expression was a mix of incredulous and disgusted. Dongju didn’t blame him.

“Ew.”

He said. Dongju smiled sheepishly.

“Sorry, hyung.”

He said. Hwanwoong snorted.

“It’s not… you know…” Hwanwoong looked at him in the eyes, then sighed. “Come on, get up. We’ve rested enough.”

The thing was: it was a comfort thing. Dongju remembered he first started sucking on his thumb when his mother decided he and Dongmyeong had to sleep in different rooms. He could see the logic behind that: they liked sharing a room as kids because it was fun and they had company, but once they started to grow up they would surely want their own space. So it made sense. That didn’t change the fact that the situation was very hard on Dongju.

On the first night he cried. He cried the whole night long, and he was a bit upset on the next day when he found out Dongmyeong had slept just fine without him. He didn’t hold a grudge. He knew his twin missed sharing a room with him as well, but expressed it differently. Dongmyeong was the type to talk about his feelings, while Dongju bottled up and ended up becoming more emotional.

On the second night he tried hard not to cry, and he succeeded, but he couldn’t sleep, no matter how hard he tried. On the third night he stuck his thumb in his mouth and slowly drifted off.

So that was the origin of Dongju’s habit. And that’s why Dongju wasn’t surprised at all when he caught himself sucking on his thumb way more often than normal during the week Dongmyeong was away with his group during their reality show. After spending so much time with his twin again, having him go away all of a sudden was quite hard on Dongju.

Unfortunately, Dongju wasn’t the only one who noticed how often he had been sucking on his thumb. Dongju was watching TV one night when Keonhee passed by and stopped on his tracks. Then the older boy walked back and sighed.

“Dongju. You’re gonna end up damaging your teeth if you keep that up.”

He said. Dongju blinked at him, then took his thumb from his mouth.

“I think my wisdom tooth is coming out, hyung.”

He whined. A great excuse. Except Keonhee frowned and approached him.

“Open up, let hyung take a look.” Ok, maybe it was a shit excuse. Dongju obeyed, though, because denying would be worse than just doing as he was told. “There’s nothing there, Dongju.”

The older said. Of course there wasn’t. Dongju didn’t have wisdom teeth, his dentist had asked for an X-Ray years back and found that out.

“Oh. Then I must have eaten something that hurt my gums or cheek, cause it’s hurting a lot.”

Keonhee sighed tiredly.

“I’ll get you something to put on it so that it gets better, ok?”

He said. Dongju smiled.

“Thank you, hyung.”

Did he feel guilty about lying to his hyungs? Yes. Would he keep doing it if it meant they wouldn’t find out he needed to suck on his thumb for comfort? 100%.

Keonhee gave him a kiss on the cheek that night as Dongju headed to bed.

“Dongmyeong will be back soon.” He whispered to Dongju. “Here’s the medicine.”

Dongju could only stare as the boy walked away. Well. That was weird.

By the time Geonhak said anything about Dongju’s habit they were already on the verge of debuting, and with the packed schedules of practice and filming MVs and the sudden absence of his brother – who had schedules just as full –, Dongju had been sucking on his thumb more than ever. He did it on every break they got during practice, on the van as they went back to the dorms, while showering, and even at night. He had never been one to suck on his thumb on his sleep, but the hectic days of pre-debut were clearly taking a toll on him.

The others had taken to pulling his thumb out of his mouth when they thought it was getting excessive. Dongju always had an excuse on the tip of his tongue. ‘My gums hurt. ’ ‘There’s something stuck on my teeth.’ ‘I hurt my cheek.’ ‘My tongue feels funny.’ ‘There’s something stuck on my throat.’ The others always nodded at him, accepting, and Dongju was always left feeling guilty for lying and happy for avoiding once again being found out.

It was on one of those times that Geonhak talked to him, instead of just pulling Dongju’s thumb out and accepting his excuse. He put a hand on Dongju’s wrist and pulled on it. Dongju whined, but let the older do what he wanted. Geonhak whined.

“Dongju…”

Dongju blinked at him.

“I hurt my thumb today, I was trying to feel where it hurt the most.”

Geonhak stared at him, and for a second Dongju panicked. Had he been found out? The older spoke up.

“Dongju, you know we don’t care, right?”

The little laugh that left Dongju was purely out of nervousness.

“About what, hyung?”

He asked. Geonhak stared at him for a while longer, then shook his head.

“Nothing. Let me see your thumb, maybe I can help you find where it hurts.”

Dongju smiled at the older and presented his thumb. Geonhak gave it a quick onceover and then took Dongju’s hand in his, lacing their fingers together. He closed his eyes. Dongju blushed.

“Hyung…”

He whined. Geonhak shushed him.

“Sleep.”

Dongju looked at their interlocked fingers and sighed happily, closing his eyes.

After that incident, things calmed down a bit. Their debut was good, and after a few more weeks of pure stress they could rest for a bit, and Dongju finally gave his thumb a rest. Not that he completely stopped. He didn’t think he ever would. He just didn’t stick it in his mouth at any given opportunity anymore. The others, too, seemed to get used to it, because they never said anything again. Dongju was grateful. Except he had forgotten to count element Youngjo on the equation.

Geonhak had woken all of them up one night, seeming extremely upset. He hesitated to explain the reason, but ended up admitting to having lost his plush cat.

“I hate sleeping without it, and it’s been gone for three days.”

He said. It made Dongju’s heartache, because the older sounded so sad and upset. It clearly made the other boys sad for him, too, because no one even teased him. Instead they set off to look for the toy.

It didn’t take long, thankfully. Keonhee was the one who found it, under the couch in the living room. Dongju couldn’t help but to chuckle at the huge smile that lit Geonhak’s face up.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

He said, hugging Keonhee and the cat. Keonhee laughed.

“You’re welcome, hyung.”

Dongju was sure this reaction was due to Geonhak being sleepy. The older would probably be embarrassed in the morning when he woke up and remembered all of this. Youngjo ruffled the boy’s hair.

“Go to sleep, Hak. And all of you too. We have a full day tomorrow.”

Everyone obeyed.

On the next day, Geonhak entered the kitchen to have breakfast and awkwardly sat down on his chair without looking at anyone. Expected. Dongju rolled his eyes. He should know better than to do that and think Youngjo wouldn’t make him talk about what was bothering him.

“Geonhak.”

Dongju almost laughed as the leader spoke up. Geonhak looked up pouting.

“Yes, hyung?”

Youngjo sighed.

“Come on.”

Geonhak pouted even more.

“’m embarrassed.”

He said. Dongju immediately sympathized with the feeling.

“Because…?”

Prompted Youngjo. The others only watched the scene unfold. Geonhak crossed his arms.

“Cause all of you had to get up and help me find a silly toy.”

He said dejectedly. Youngjo sighed.

“Hak, you should know it’s no big deal. First of all, it’s not a silly toy, not if you need it like it seems you do. Second of all, there’s nothing wrong with needing a plushie to sleep. We all do what we can to find comfort. You need your plushie, just like Dongju sucks on his thumb.”

Dongju had been nodding along, until the sentence downed on him properly. His cheeks immediately flamed up.

“W-what?”

He asked. He didn’t mean to yell. The other boys looked at him, eyebrows raised at the outburst. Dongju wanted to hide.

“What?”

Asked Seoho back. Dongju swallowed hard.

“I-I don’t, that’s not… I don’t suck on my thumb.”

All of the others kept staring at him, and Dongju could only grip his shirt tightly in an attempt to keep calm. Was it just him or was it getting hotter by the second? Hwanwoong snorted.

“You’re kidding right?”

Dongju frowned. Geonhak spoke up, seemingly forgetting his own embarrassment now that Dongju was the centre of the attention.

“Dong, you literally have your thumb in your mouth all the time.”

He said. Dongju felt a bit faint. Was the world supposed to be spinning like that?

“I, it’s not…”

He felt a hand on his shoulder. Youngjo.

“Come on, did you not hear me just now? We don’t mind, Dong. We know you do it for comfort, and we don’t think any less of you because of that. Just like we don’t think any less of Geonhak for needing his stuffed toy to sleep.”

Dongju’s world was falling apart.

“But I, you… you never said…”

Seoho sighed.

“Dong. Look, maybe we should have told you we knew, but… you always looked so embarrassed whenever we mentioned it, and you seemed so sure we believed your excuses… so we just let you do it. But Youngjo hyung is right. We don’t mind.”

Dongju groaned and hid his face in his hands.

“Fuck…”

He heard Seoho make a noise that sounded like a sad puppy crying.

“Dong. Come on, why are you so embarrassed all of a sudden? You’ve been doing it in front of us for so long…”

Dongju looked up, glaring.

“Yeah, but that was before I knew you knew, hyung.”

He said. Hwanwoong shot him an apologetic smile.

“It was pretty obvious, Dong. ‘I have something on my teeth’ is not a good excuse when you have your whole thumb shoved in your mouth.”

Dongju sighed in defeat.

“I’m sorry I’m weird.”

Dongju did not expect the uproar that simple sentence cause. In a second all of his hyungs were talking over each other, either telling him to not talk about himself like that or telling him he had nothing to apologize for. It was a bit overwhelming, so Dongju was glad Youngjo quickly managed to shut everyone up.

“What these savages are trying to say, Dong, is that we don’t mind it if you suck on your thumb. We worry, because we can see that you chew it until it’s raw when you’re under too much stress, but other then that there’s nothing wrong with it. Ok?”

Dongju bit on his lip, resisting the urge to bite on his fingers.

“Ok.”

He mumbled. Youngjo held his chin.

“Promise me you won’t stop yourself just because you know we know.”

Dongju pouted.

“I promise.”

He said. Youngjo smiled.

“Great. Now can we please eat? I’m starving.”

After that, things changed. It took a while, but Dongju learned to be comfortable in front of his hyungs, and soon he didn’t even notice it when he stuck his thumb in his mouth around them. And if he enjoyed the way the others called him adorable when they caught him sucking on his thumb no one had to know.


	2. Chapter 2

Dongju hissed as Hwanwoong brushed his hand against his on accident. He quickly stifled the noise, hoping the other boy hadn’t heard it, but Hwanwoong’s sharp eyes were already trained on his face, studying Dongju’s every expression.

“Are you ok?”

Asked the older. Dongju smiled.

“Yeah, fine.”

Hwanwoong rolled his eyes. Then he moved to stand in front of Dongju, forcing the boy to stop walking and look at him.

“What just happened?”

Dongju sighed.

“Nothing, hyung. Just… my hand kinda hurts, so when you brushed against it…”

Hwanwoong raised an incredulous eyebrow.

“Your hand?” Dongju’s thumb was part of his hand, so it wasn’t a lie, ok? He nodded. “Let me see.”

Dongju hesitated for a second then presented his left hand.

“There’s nothing visible, I think…”

Hwanwoong interrupted him.

“I was on your other side, Dong.” He said, and as Dongju looked at the older he noticed he had no escape. With a grimace he extended his right hand. Hwanwoong took it, examining the damage Dongju had made. “Shit, this is worse than I thought.”

Dongju pulled his hand back, feeling self-conscious.

“It’s not that bad.”

He said. Hwanwoong frowned.

“It’s pretty bad. The skin is really irritated.”

Dongju sighed.

“It’ll pass. We only have promotions for a couple more weeks.”

Hwanwoong snorted.

“A couple… Dong, you can’t go around with your thumb like that for a couple more weeks, especially considering it’ll probably get worse since you won’t stop sucking on it.”

Dongju shushed.

“Hyung!”

Hwanwoong rolled his eyes.

“There’s no one around. I mean it, Dong, you have to find a way to stop that, because at this rate your thumb will be permanently damaged in a few days.”

And saying that he continued to walk. Dongju bit on his lip and followed the older. He knew Hwanwoong was right. His thumb was already aching at every brush, if he kept this up… but he didn’t know how to stop. He had tried everything he could to stop sucking on his thumb, purely because it was something of an embarrassing habit, but nothing seemed to work.

It was just because of their schedules, too. Since they started preparing for their comeback Dongju had been getting more and more stressed. He had trouble eating, sleeping, doing everything, and sucking his thumb was how he coped with that. So he knew trying to stop would just leave him and the others even more stressed. He just hoped Hwanwoong kept this to himself. If it was only Hwanwoong, Dongju could deal with it. But if this got to Youngjo and Geonhak and they decided Dongju had to stop then he would be doomed.

It turned out it wasn’t Hwanwoong Dongju should have worried about.

It was one of those rare days during comeback time where Onewe and Oneus had joint practice. When neither group was promoting they scheduled joint practices as often as they could, because they liked being with each other. When one of the groups was promoting, however, they rarely got the chance to meet, so those rare opportunities were precious.

And that’s how Dongju found himself sitting by a mirror, Dongmyeong by his side.

“So, how has comeback season been treating you?”

Asked Dongmyeong. Dongju shrugged.

“It’s stressful.”

Dongmyeong gave him a sad smile.

“You seem tired.”

He said. Dongju sighed.

“It’s worth it. It’s fun to be on stage and to go on radio shows and all that.”

He said. Dongmyeong smiled.

“I’m glad you’re having fun. What…”

Dongju frowned as his twin stopped talking and turned to look at him. Dongmyeong was staring at something. Dongju followed the boy’s gaze and sucked in a breath.

“Myeong, this…”

“Son Dongju, you told me you wouldn’t do this again!”

Dongju cringed. Aware of the fact that now everyone was looking at them.

“Myeong, oh my god, can you be quiet? I…”

He was interrupted again.

“Be quiet? How can I be quiet when you just…? Unbelievable, I thought you knew better than this. You even told me…”

This time Dongju was the one who interrupted, hiding his hands behind his back.

“Yah, Dongmyeong, give it a rest!”

He said, panic making him scream at his brother. Dongmyeong snorted.

“Give it… I can’t believe you…”

Dongju didn’t know if he was thankful or not when Youngjo approached them.

“Hey, stop that, you two. What the hell is going on?”

Dongju looked at Dongmyeong. His brother seemed to just then notice that everyone was staring at him. He sent Dongju a guilty look.

“I, Dongju… Dongju hurt his thumb.”

He said. Dongju closed his eyes. Shit.

“His… Dongju. Can hyung see that?” Dongju sighed, knowing there was no point in fighting. He extended his hand. Youngjo sighed. “Ju…”

Dongju felt his eyes watering.

“Just leave it, hyung, please.”

He begged. Youngjo looked at him, then sighed again.

“We’ll talk when we get home. Come on, we still have to practice.”

After that everyone seemed a bit weary. Dongju ignored everything and everyone, focusing solely on practicing. When they finally left, Dongju didn’t say goodbye to his brother.

“Dongju.”

The boy sighed. He didn’t really have much hope of avoiding the conversation, but he had definitely been hoping he could postpone it a bit more.

“Hyung, I know what you’re going to say, but… I can’t stop it. I know this isn’t good, god, it hurts so much all the time. But it’s not something I control.”

Youngjo didn’t say anything, he just patted the couch again. Dongju sighed and went to sit next to him. The others also gathered around.

“First of all, I know this isn’t something you can just stop, Dong. I wasn’t going to tell you to stop. But we need to find an alternative. You said it yourself, it hurts like hell. So how can we just let it be?”

Dongju felt warmth fill his heart. He had been expecting Youngjo and the others to be angry at him and to demand that he stop. He wasn’t expecting the softness and sheer worry for his well being that he was receiving.

“But what can I do, hyung?”

He asked. Youngjo stopped to think.

“Maybe you could bite something else? Like a coat or pen, something like that.”

Suggested Seoho. It wasn’t the best idea, but it also wasn’t the worst. Except for Geonhak it apparently was.

“Oh no, that won’t do. Dong already has a problem with grinding his teeth in his sleep, he doesn’t need any more incentive, hyung.”

Seoho bit on his lip.

“You’re right.”

Silence fell on the room again.

“Maybe gum would be a better solution?”

Dongju shook his head.

“I’ve… tried that before. I just end up sucking on my thumb with the gum in my mouth.”

Everyone deflated.

“It’s bad for his teeth, anyways.”

Said Keonhee. And then Youngjo opened his mouth. He closed it again a second later, then opened it again.

“Ok, so. Please don’t be mad at me, Dong, I’m only trying to help, ok?” Dongju looked at him warily. “What if we bought a pacifier?”

Dongju blinked, and then waited for the others to laugh or tell Youngjo this was a shit idea. Except it never came. Instead, when Dongju looked around he saw the others slowly nodding their heads, processing the idea and clearly finding it good.

“No.”

He said, startling everyone out of their thoughts. Youngjo frowned.

“Why not?”

He asked. Dongju couldn’t believe his ears.

“Why… hyung are you serious?”

Youngjo shrugged.

“It’s a good idea, Dong.” Said Geonhak. “It’ll stop you from hurting your thumb and it’s the closest thing possible to that.”

Dongju could barely speak with how astounded he was.

“That’s, that’s not, I’m nineteen years old, hyung. I’m not going to use a pacifier!”

Youngjo put a hand on his shoulder.

“We know how old you are, Dong. This has nothing to do with your age, it’s just an idea of how to solve your current problem.”

Dongju shook his head.

“Hyung, no, you can’t… that would be humiliating.”

Youngjo frowned.

“We won’t force you to do anything, Dong, but you’re wrong. It won’t be humiliating, it won’t change anything. It’ll be just like sucking on your thumb. You know none of us mind that.”

Dongju stared at the older.

“Hyung, no.”

Youngjo sighed.

“Look. Before you flat out deny it, why don’t you think for a bit? And keep in mind that we aren’t doing this to humiliate you or anything like that, we just hate to see you hurting and want you to be comfortable and happy. Ok?”

Dongju opened his mouth to say he didn’t need time to think, but the look on Youngjo’s eyes made him stop. He sighed.

“Fine, whatever. I’m going to bed.”

Dongju did all he could on that night to avoid sucking on his thumb.

As Dongju woke he immediately knew he had failed to keep his mouth empty. His thumb was resting on his tongue as usual, and Dongju hated that the urge to suck on it was so strong. He didn’t. His thumb was already hurting enough as it was. Instead, he took his thumb from his mouth and thought about how good it would be to have something to replace it.

With a sigh, Dongju got up. Shit. He should have just accepted Youngjo’s offer the night before. Then he wouldn’t have to go through the embarrassment of actually voicing the fact that he wanted a pacifier.

“Dong? It’s early, why are you awake?”

Dongju blinked, noticing he wasn’t the first one up. Youngjo was sitting in the living room looking at him, a mug of probably coffee in his hands. Dongju bit on his lip.

“My hand was bothering me.”

He said as an explanation. Youngjo seemed to understand.

“Did you think about…”

Dongju blushed, looking down.

“You can buy it if you want, hyung.”

He said. Youngjo didn’t seem satisfied.

“This is not about what I want, Dong, it’s about what _you_ want.”

He said. Dongju whined, then looked the older in the eyes.

“You can buy it if you want to, hyung.”

He repeated. He saw understanding dawn on Youngjo’s face. The older smiled warmly.

“Ok. Any colour or theme?” Dongju shook his head. Youngjo smiled. “This will be good, Dong, I promise.”

Dongju’s pacifier didn’t take long to arrive. Youngjo had probably asked for express delivery, and the thought made Dongju feel all warm inside, because despite the situation being less than ideal this simple action showed him how much Youngjo cared.

“Dong, look! It’s here.”

Dongju looked at the little box on the leader’s hand and grimaced. He extended his own hand.

“We can leave you to open it on your own, if you want that.”

Said Seoho, noticing the boy’s uneasiness.”

Dongju nodded.

“Please, hyung.”

Seoho ruffled his hair.

“Don’t take long to come to bed, ok?”

He said, and the others started leaving the kitchen, where they had all been gathered. Youngjo was about to close the door when Dongju called him.

“Youngjo hyung!” The older looked back, confused. Dongju blushed. “Stay?”

Youngjo smiled widely at him.

Dongju sighed as he opened the little box. Inside there was a pacifier that was clearly made for adults. Dongju picked it up, then turned it around. And then he giggled.

“Hyung, you’re so silly.”

He said. Youngjo laughed.

“Thought I should get you something you like, at least.”

The pacifier had a little drawing of Belle from Beauty and the Beast on the shield, and Dongju had to admit that it was pretty cute. Instinctively, he made to put it in his mouth. Then he stopped on his tracks, cheeks reddening.

“I…”

He said, looking at Youngjo. The older gave him a warm smile.

“Here, let hyung wash it before you use it, ok?”

Dongju handed the pacifier over. Youngjo headed to the sink and quickly washed the item before going back to where Dongju was standing. Then he nudged Dongju’s lips with it. Once again, Dongju’s instinct was stronger than him. He opened his mouth, accepting the pacifier, and then blushed bright red, looking down.

“Don’ look.”

He mumbled. Youngjo took his hand.

“You look adorable, Dong. Come on, let’s go to bed.”

The others seemed to find Dongju adorable with his new pacifier. Keonhee always pinched his cheeks and Hwanwoong giggled at him and called him cute. Seoho smiled at him widely whenever he caught Dongju with his pacifier in his mouth, and Geonhak did what he knew how to do best: playfully teased Dongju in a way that was just too soft and warm to be harmful. Plus, Dongju’s thumb no longer hurt all the time, and the skin had healed. Overall, it was great. Dongju would never really admit it, but he regretted not getting a pacifier sooner.

There was one thing still bothering, though. And that was the fact that he hadn’t talked to Dongmyeong since their fight. He knew he should talk to his brother. Apologize, explain why he was so rude, explain why he had broken his promise – he had once promised to Dongmyeong he would stop hurting his thumb. But time passed and their schedules were still packed, and slowly Dongju let the need to talk to his brother fall on the back of his mind. Thankfully, Dongmyeong wasn’t as emotionally constipated as him.

Dongju was lying in his bed reading through the script of their upcoming interview. He knew he didn’t have to memorize everything, but he liked to know as much as he could so there was less of a risk of him saying something wrong. He was focused on his own part when the door to the room opened. That in itself was common. He shared a room with four other guys. What wasn’t normal was Dongmyeong’s voice ringing through the room.

“Ju, I…”

Dongju sat up, startled. Dongmyeong stopped talking, eyes wide. Dongju immediately covered his mouth, spitting out his pacifier and hiding it behind his back.

“What are you doing here?”

He asked. He didn’t mean to sound so rude, and he winced once the words were out. Dongmyeong just continued to stare at him. Then his twin smiled.

“Let me see your thumb.” He demanded, walking up to Dongju. Dongju showed the boy both of his hands. Dongmyeong smiled. “So this is working. Oh, thank god.”

Dongju blinked.

“You’re not… weirded out?”

Dongmyeong snorted.

“Ju, I’ve been seeing you suck on your thumb since we were little kids. How is a pacifier any different from that?”

Dongju shrugged.

“I don’t know.”

Dongmyeong sat next to him and pulled Dongju into a hug.

“Hey, look. I don’t care, Ju. I’m just happy you’re not hurting yourself anymore.”

Dongju smiled.

“Thank you. I’m sorry for, for being rude the other day.”

Dongmyeong waved him off.

“I overreacted, and I exposed you knowing fully well this whole thing isn’t something you’re comfortable with. I should be the one apologizing.”

Dongju chuckled.

“We can both apologize.”

He said. Dongmyeong smiled.

“I like that idea.”

Dongju squeezed his brother.

“Thank you, Myeong. For not… for accepting me.”

Dongmyeong snorted.

“You’re my baby brother, it’s my duty to take care of you.”

Dongju shoved the other boy away.

“You’re literally a minute older.”

He complained, but he was smiling.

“Yeah, well, but you still have a pacifier.”

Dongju rolled his eyes.

“I hate you. “

Dongmyeong laughed and hugged his brother once more.

“Love you too, Ju.”

Dongju made a point to thank whatever deity there was out there for the amazing people he had in his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the second and last chapter. Did you guys like it? Comments are always appreciated ^.^

**Author's Note:**

> Me? Posting a new story after going ages without updating my ongoing ones? More likely than you think lol (I'm so sorry, I don't control my writing, it controls me.)
> 
> I hope you guys liked this, though, let me know! I always appreciate comments and kudos <3333


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